So I'm stuck here in the Cincinnati airport in what's on it's way to becoming a two-hour delay. And it sucks. To be honest, I'm really not that bothered by the delay. This sort of thing happens when you fly. I'll still get to my final destination, Knoxville, Tenn., tonight. That's not a big deal. What does suck, however, is the fact the Sam Adams bar right next to my gate stopped serving at 8 p.m. Eight! I went to order a beer and kill some time watching football and the bartender looks at me like I have six limbs. 8:14 p.m. Ben: I'll have a miller lite. Bartender: We're not serving anymore. Ben: (confused) Ok, I'll just have a corona then. Bartender: No, we're closed. Ben: (too stunned to respond. Walks away in a daze.) So that's that. Like I said, i'm on my way to Knoxville. I'll be at the Tennessee - Vanderbilt game Saturday, where I'll try not to get robbed by football players. After that it's on to the Virgin Islands for Thanksgiving week. I tell you this not to brag, but to explain why there probably won't be any UW Maui Invite posts. And to make you slightly jealous. Hopefully when I get back there will be some good stories about our slow-talking, NASCAR-loving countrymen to relay. But until then, Happy Thanksgiving.

Photo Gallery

Box Score 

Madison -- If there was any doubt that the Wisconsin Badgers would put away the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies in the second half Wednesday night at the Kohl Center, forward Keaton Nankivil made sure of it.

After only scoring two points in the first half, Nankivil poured it on in the second frame to finish with 13, second only to Trevon Hughes’ team leading 15.

The beginning of the second half was especially important to both Nankivil and the Badgers’ chances of winning, though. The hometown Madison product scored six of the Badgers’ first eight points to open the scoring.

At the same time, Oakland could only manage three points in the first ten minutes of the second half. And Nankivil was a big reason for the Badgers’ defensive effort around the basket.

“I don’t think Wisconsin is an in-your-face pressure defense,” said Oakland coach Greg Kampe. “I think they are a pack defense that protects the basket.

“(Oakland center Keith) Benson never got a look. He had to fight, scratch for everything he got in there. (Will) Hudson had the ball in there four or five times when it looked like, in our league, he would get a basket, but he didn’t get it here. I’m going to give Wisconsin a lot of credit by the basket.”

It wasn’t hard for Nankivil to feel comfortable around the basket. The Badgers held the Grizzlies to 27.3 percent on 15-55 shooting on the evening.

With such a low shooting percentage for the opponent like that, it wasn’t hard for the junior forward to lead the team in rebounds with nine.

“He got on the glass,” said head coach Bo Ryan. “He’s trying to keep finding his niche. Obviously, he’s better this year than he was last year. He’s more active, and we need him to be.”

Having missed so many shots, it’s not surprising Oakland had just as many offensive rebounds as the Badgers with 13. It was on the defensive glass where Nankivil and the Badgers really cleaned up grabbing 26 to the Grizzlies’ 19.

“When you take that many, there’s shots bouncing all over the place that maybe we’re not used to,” said Nankivil. “Part of it was the way the bigs were lined up on the floor. The ball was coming to the opposite side of the rim like we practice rebounding over there.

“Sometimes it just bounces in the right direction. A lot of time it’s that we have five guys blocking out and ball is just falling in the right spot and someone can go get it.”

The Badgers, as a whole, have been amazingly stellar on the defense so far this short season. Through two games, they’ve held both teams to less than 50 points.

When all was said and done on Wednesday evening, the Badgers won 58-42. That comes just three days after they beat IPFW 75-46. Taking a look at their exhibition performances, the held UW-Superior to 47 points and Bemidji State to 54.

The level of play the Badgers had faced thus far certainly isn’t what they’re going to see in the Big Ten or even the remainder of the non-conference season. But defensive performances such as these are nothing at which to scoff.

Even blocked shots have become part of the Badgers’ defensive repertoire. Nankivil had a career high four in Wednesday night’s win. And that comes one game after the Badgers blocked a Bo Ryan era high of 11 in the season opener.

“They were looking to draw some fouls,” said Ryan, “but we were disciplined enough to not leave our feet until after they showed their move first. And that’s the key to be able to get away with blocks. We’ve never had teams that really were great shot-blocking teams, but it’s all about timing.”

Whether Nankivil and the Badgers have been lucky to block many shots so far this season is up for debate. But, so far, there’s been nothing objective about their overall defensive performance.

Madison — Now the games begin.

The Badgers again showed no interest in messing around against a clearly inferior opponent, swatting away Oakland 58-42 to open the season with two wins by more than 16. That after winning their exhibition season by 69 points.

Keaton Nankivil had a strong second half and finished 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Jon Leuer (12) and Trevon Hughes (15) also scored in double figures. Wisconsin grabbed a 10-point lead with nine minutes to go in the first half and never led by less than eight the rest of the way.

To be blunt, there wasn’t much drama. (But there were great pictures! Click here for the SportsBubbler photo gallery.)

But for the next two weeks, the Oaklands and IPFWs of college basketball give way to the Arizonas and Gonzagas and Dukes. And these next two weeks will be an early test to see where the Badgers stand.

“All the coaches that I’ve ever talked to said the most talented teams tend to win,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “You can have the best talent and not win. But out there, because of the lack of preparation and you don’t do your normal routine … the better athletes take over.”

For all of UW’s success during the last decade, they haven’t been known for being one of the most talented teams in the country. The Badgers’ success has tended to come from thorough preparation and steady execution. There won’t be much time left for opponent-specific preparation, but the Badgers team could have the athletes necessary to make a run at Maui. Trevon Hughes is one of the more athletic guards in the Big Ten and doesn’t lack for confidence (“I think I’m quick enough to drive by anybody,” Hughes said after the game). Jon Leuer is quick and agile for his size. Then there’s Ryan Evans, the most athletic guy on the entire roster and the emerging sixth man of the team.

“We’re going there with something to prove,” Leuer said. “We know what we have to do.”

The Badgers have the depth, too. They comfortably go nine deep, and when Mike Bruesewitz forfeited a potential redshirt season by checking into the game midway through the second half, the rotation expanded to 10. With three games in three days, that depth will be required.

The Badgers say they haven’t found their rhythm yet. Given the rough patches in Wednesday’s game, you’d have to agree. But at the same time, you figure Trevon’s head-scratching four turnovers will be corrected and there will be better shooting days. And even with the rough play, the game was comfortably in hand for most of the contest.

“I just really like where we’re at right now heading into Maui,” Leuer said.

About the time the Badgers were closing out IPFW Sunday night, I was settling into my seat three rows from the top of the Bradley Center upper deck for some Boss Time. But whether you were in the Bradley Center or the Kohl Center didn't make a difference; you saw the guys you were cheering for kick ass either way.

So Bruce was my excuse for not being at that last game, but from what I hear there are a few more people who no-showed.

Hopefully the atmosphere will be a little better tonight, when UW takes on the might Oakland Golden Grizzlies.

Game facts

Who: UW (1-0) vs. Oakland (0-1)

When: 7 p.m.

TV/Radio: Streaming online at BigTenNetwork.com ($2.99 fee)/Badger Radio Network

Probable Starters

UW: Leuer, Nankivil, Jarmusz (forwards); Hughes, Bohannon (guards)

Oakland: Derick Nelson, Will Hudson (forwards); Keith Benson (center); Larry Wright, Johnathon Jones (guards)

Don't be surprised if...

UW wins yet another blowout. Between the two exhibitions and the regular season opener, the Badgers have won by an average of 32.6 points per game. Oakland, meanwhile, lost it's opener at home to Eastern Michigan.

Keep an eye on...

The post play. UW had it's way over a much smaller IPFW team in the season opener, but Oakland will provide a tougher test. Benson (6-11) and Hudson (6-9) have the type of size Nankivil, Leuer and the rest of the front line will see every time out in tougher non-conference games and in the Big Ten. Wisconsin got beat up inside at times last year, and interior play will go a long way to determining how the Badgers fare this season.

Welcome back...

Will Hudson. The former Middleton Cardinal will be playing just a few miles from where he played during his high school days.

Know Oakland University...

Motto: Seguir virtute e canoscenza (seek virtue and knowledge). It's apparently taken from Dante's Inferno.

Founder: Matilda Dodge Wilson, the widow of the guy who started the Dodge automobile company. So if Oakland gets behind by a lot, don't be surprised if they ask Bo for a bailout.

Notable alumni: The Hoff. 

I really have nothing to add after that.

See you at the KC.

BOX SCORE

Madison — Making bold predictions can make you look like a fool.

Knowing that, I’m going to throw caution to the wind and make two. There’s enough people out there that think I’m a fool already, so what’s a few more?

So here’s nothin’.

One: These Badgers are going to be very fun to watch.

Two: These Badgers are going to win a lot of games.

Sure, to say that after two blowout wins against clearly overmatched opponents, the most recent Wednesday's 80-47 drubbing of UW-Superior, is a little premature

That UW didn't exactly shine last year doesn't make it any easier of a sell. But it's not that they won their exhibition games by a laughable combined 69 points. It's how they looked doing it. And if you weren't in the Kohl Center for either game, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Or better yet, someone else that was there for both.

“The way our team has played the last two games is a big difference from last year, just as far as confidence and playing as a team goes,” junior forward Keaton Nankivil said. “I think you can see we’re a little more ready to attack the season than we were last year.”

If Trevon Hughes keeps dropping dimes like he has so far, the panhandlers along State Street will be in for a bountiful basketball season.

Hughes nearly registered the program’s first triple-double, even if it wouldn’t have officially counted, finishing with nine points, 10 steals and nine assists. Take that with his stats from the first exhibition, and Hughes has a 17-2 assist to turnover ratio.

“He showed why he is one of the better point guards in the nation,” Superior head coach Logan Flora said. “He was really good.”

We’ll soon find out whether his exhibition mastery carries over once the real games start. But listening to Hughes makes you think that it likely will. It all comes down to having four guys around him who are offensive threats to score anywhere on the court.

“Just having shooters on the court with me … I get to the lane a lot easier,” Hughes said. “The big guys, they’re on the wing … I just kick it out and I get most of my assists from there and the transition game this year.”

That’s the other thing to come out of this preseason. While they’ve been one of the slowest teams in the country the last two seasons, don’t expect that to continue. This UW team is deep, athletic and wants to run.

“That’s one of the things we’re trying to focus on,” Leuer said. “Every time beat your man down the court, because you can obviously get easy points that way.”

Fast breaking also limits the number of players opponents can send to the offensive glass, which should help improve UW’s interior play, a weakness last season.

But while shooting and getting out in transition only make you fun to watch, it doesn’t guarantee success. That requires a level of effort that Hughes hinted maybe wasn’t always there last year.

“I think we’re more focused this year, more hungry and it shows out on the court,” Hughes said. “We have depth this year … there’s nothing for me to worry about, just go out there and lay my body on the line for the team. And that’s what I didn’t do last year, and it hurt.”

If Hughes and Co. keep it up, I won't be hurtin' for stepping out on a limb.

Season Stats